{"id":2402,"date":"2025-02-07T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T08:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/4-swimming-workouts-for-beginners-and-advanced-swimmers.html"},"modified":"2025-02-07T08:00:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T08:00:48","slug":"4-swimming-workouts-for-beginners-and-advanced-swimmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/health\/4-swimming-workouts-for-beginners-and-advanced-swimmers.html","title":{"rendered":"4 Swimming Workouts for Beginners and Advanced Swimmers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The cardiovascular department at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic is cautious about recommending swimming workouts to its patients. In fact, it often advises that they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>The clinic\u2019s cardiologists are concerned that the physical demands of propelling oneself through a medium that is 784 times denser than air are simply too strenuous for people with cardiac conditions.<\/p>\n<p>If your heart is healthy, however, you can take their admonition as a ringing endorsement: Swimming provides one hell of a workout.<\/p>\n<p>Most swimming workouts last an hour and cover 3,500 meters: 1,000 for the warmup, 2,000 for the main workout, and 500 for the cool-down, which should consist of easy swimming.<\/p>\n<p>Masters world record holder Jacki Hirsty, who is the assistant coach for the swimming and diving program at Cal Poly, has fitness swimmers perform four swimming workouts a week that increase progressively in intensity from a distance-focused pool session to sprint intervals.<\/p>\n<p>Professional triathlete and coach Jim Lubinski also likes a variety of swimming workouts for triathletes and recommends up to four swims a week.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll find options for both types of swimmer in the workouts below (all percentages reflect percent of maximum effort).<\/p>\n<h2><strong>1. Distance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>Objective: <\/strong>To increase raw endurance or (in the case of triathletes) to enhance recovery and stroke efficiency<\/p>\n<p>Hirsty likes to have her fitness-focused clients start the week with 500-meter intervals. We know \u2014 that sounds like speed work if you\u2019re a runner or a cyclist. But you have to stop thinking like a runner or cyclist.<\/p>\n<p>In the pool (where you\u2019re fighting water resistance) 500 meters is a respectable distance \u2014 especially if you repeat it multiple times. See if you don\u2019t agree after a couple of 500s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first one will feel slow but the idea is to build up, making each 500 a little faster,\u201d says Hirsty.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a multisport athlete, you\u2019ll likely come off the weekend having completed a long run or bike ride (or both). As such, Lubinski recommends that the\u00a0first of your swimming workouts\u00a0for the week be low intensity to optimize recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Resist the temptation to push yourself \u2014 you\u2019ll have plenty of opportunities to do that in subsequent workouts. This one is all about helping your body complete its repairs.<\/p>\n<p>It also emphasizes stroke efficiency, training you to swim faster and farther with less effort.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fitness Swimmers:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>500m at 40% effort with 30 seconds rest<\/li>\n<li>500m at 50% effort with 30 seconds rest<\/li>\n<li>500m at 70% effort with 30 seconds rest<\/li>\n<li>500m at 80% effort with 30 seconds rest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Triathletes<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>9 x 50m kicks of progressing intensity (3 x 60%, 3 x 70%, 3 x 80%).\n<ul>\n<li>Rest 10 seconds between each 50m effort.<\/li>\n<li>Use fins if possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>10 x 100m pulls at 70% with 20 seconds rest between them.\n<ul>\n<li>Focus on taking as few strokes as possible to cover the length of the pool.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>500m swim at 70%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>2. Tempo Training<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-167049\" src=\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/30143403\/swimming-workouts-600-tempo.jpg\" alt=\"front view of woman swimming laps | Swimming Workouts\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Objective: <\/strong>To enhance overall fitness and improve pacing skill<\/p>\n<p>Having a feel for distance, speed, and effort (i.e., knowing how to pace yourself) is one of the keys to successful swimming workouts, let alone races.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf an athlete goes out too hard, they will falter in the latter portions of the interval or set,\u201d says Lubinski.<\/p>\n<p>The following swimming workouts will help prevent that from happening by developing your inner speedometer, tachometer, and fuel gauge. In other words, you\u2019ll become better at starting strong and finishing\u00a0even stronger.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fitness Swimmers<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>200 at 75% with 20 seconds rest<\/li>\n<li>150 at 80% with 15 seconds rest<\/li>\n<li>100 at 90% with 10 seconds rest<\/li>\n<li>50 at 100% with 60 seconds rest<\/li>\n<li><strong>Repeat four times total<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Triathletes<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>20 minutes swimming at 70%<\/li>\n<li>15 minutes pulling at 80%<\/li>\n<li>10 minutes pulling at 90%<\/li>\n<li>5 minutes swimming at 100%<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rest only as long as necessary between efforts<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>3. Race Pace Intervals<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-167048\" src=\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/30143356\/swimming-workouts-600-race.jpg\" alt=\"swimming race flurry | Swimming Workouts\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Objective: <\/strong>To increase your capacity for high intensity effort<\/p>\n<p>There are two primary kinds of endurance. The first is steady state endurance, which Workout 1 helps you develop. The second is speed endurance, which is when you hit the accelerator and hold it down for as long as possible. Race pace intervals focus on the latter.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll be swimming 100m repeats regardless of whether you\u2019re a triathlete or a fitness swimmer, and you\u2019re going to swim them hard. You\u2019re also going get very little rest (no more than 15 seconds) between efforts. Not only will that build your staying power, helping you go harder for longer, but it will also help you improve your VO2 Max (i.e., your aerobic capacity) and overall stamina (exercise tolerance).<\/p>\n<p>Since this 10x100m workout falls 1,000 meters short of the typical 2,000m workout, do another round of kicks and pulls (described in \u201cStep 1\u201d above) at the end in addition to your regular 500m cool down.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fitness Swimmers<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>10 x 100m at 80%.\n<ul>\n<li>Rest 15 seconds between efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Since this 10x100m swim set falls 1,000 meters short of the typical 2,000m workout,<strong> do another round of kicks and pulls (described in the \u201cwarm up\u201d below) at the end<\/strong><strong>, in addition to your regular 500m cool down.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Triathletes<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>10 x 100m (50m at 100% and 50m at 80%).\n<ul>\n<li>Rest 15 seconds between efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Since this 10x100m swim set falls 1,000 meters short of the typical 2,000m workout, <strong>do another round of kicks and pulls (described in the \u201cwarm up\u201d below) at the end, in addition to your regular 500m cool down.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>4. Sprints<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-167047\" src=\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/30143351\/swimming-workouts-600-sprint.jpg\" alt=\"man swimming laps | Swimming Workouts\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><strong>Objective: <\/strong>To increase swim speed and ingrain good swim technique<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s an En Vogue song from the 90\u2019s with a key line for swimmers: \u201cFree your mind and the rest will follow.\u201d That\u2019s the idea behind sprint intervals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you do distance swimming, you have time to think about technique,\u201d says Hirsty. That often leads to overthinking, which can be just as detrimental to technique as not thinking about it enough, because your motions won\u2019t be fluid.<\/p>\n<p>Sprints solve that problem by taking your mind out of the equation. \u201cYou\u2019re not thinking,\u201d says Hirsty. \u201cThere\u2019s no time for it. You\u2019re just swimming on instinct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These intervals are going to test your mental grit. You\u2019ll very quickly feel the dull (but previously manageable) burn you experienced during Workout 1 blossom into a full blown, searing firestorm.<\/p>\n<p>And like a devoted masochist, you\u2019ll rest just long enough to experience it again and again. Embrace the burn \u2014 it\u2019s the feeling of becoming a stronger, more powerful, more resilient swimmer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fitness<\/strong><strong> Swimmers<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1X100m at 100%.<\/li>\n<li>Rest 4x longer than it took you to complete the 100.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Repeat until your 100m time increases significantly.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Triathletes<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>16 x 25m at 100% with 10 seconds rest between efforts. That\u2019s one set.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Do three sets with five minutes recovery between them.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Benefits of Swim Workouts<\/h2>\n<p>A moderate effort 30-minute swim will burn 198 calories for a 150-pound person. And if you bump up the time and the intensity to \u201cvigorous,\u201d you can burn through 668 calories in an hour. Swim sets also train movement patterns and engage muscles that are often neglected in other forms of exercise \u2014 all without the repetitive physical stress that comes from pounding the pavement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSwimming is a great sport for general fitness because it\u2019s low impact, it\u2019s easy on the joints, and you can maintain a comfortable pace in that fat burning zone,\u201d says Hirsty.<\/p>\n<p>Triathletes, of course, have no choice but to train in the pool. Swimming is the first leg of every race, and sets the tone for the other two that follow. Flub up the swim, and you\u2019ll be playing catch-up in the bike and the run.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA triathlete must be cognizant of pacing and be able to utilize it effectively throughout the course of his or her race,\u201d says Lubinski. \u201cThis can only be done through practice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of your level of ability, the pool exercises above will help you optimize that practice with swimming workouts for beginners and seasoned competitors alike.<\/p>\n<h2>How to Warm Up for Swimming Workouts<\/h2>\n<p>Swimming is low impact, but to perform at your peak (and reduce your risk of injury), you still need to prime your muscles for action. Begin with 200 to 400 meters of easy swimming, and then do the following two drills to warm up for your swimming workout.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kicks:<\/strong> Grab a kickboard and hold onto it as you swim 100 meters. Rest 20 seconds after each effort. Repeat four times total. The goal here is to warm up your legs, not tax them, so keep your effort to around 50 percent of maximum.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pulls:<\/strong> Ditch the kickboard and grab a pull buoy, which is a \u201cfigure-eight\u201d shaped piece of closed-cell foam that keeps your legs afloat. Follow the same protocol as you did for kicks (i.e., 4X100m).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The cardiovascular department at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic is cautious about recommending swimming workouts to its patients. In fact, it often advises that they don\u2019t. The clinic\u2019s cardiologists are concerned that the physical demands of propelling oneself through a medium that is 784 times denser than air are simply too strenuous for people with cardiac [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[91],"class_list":["post-2402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-fitness"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ozhelp.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}